Homer Kunz comes back to Snowden Hall

Homer Kunz, a long-time local contractor who helped construct many of our buildings at Sewanee (and who supervised the original construction of Snowden Hall) came to the Snowden renovation on a cold February day to lay a stone into the new building. The senior class also came to do the same.

Natural resource grad speaks to NR Policy class

Alex Richman (C'05, Nat. Res.) recently visited with the Natural Resource Policy and Issues class to discuss her work experiences in Washington, D.C. with TNC and AFF. Her tips on networking and internships were well appreciated by the students. She is currently working with Panther Creek Forestry and is applying to several graduate schools. Her long-term interests include working with private landowners and finding ways to keep them on their land.

A tornado on the Domain? It is not the first time!

The 2010 tornado was not the first in recent times. In 2004, an F0 tornado crossed over Sherwood Road and down into Lost Cove. The image is a map developed by Karen Kuers and her students that displays the number and direction of trees that were snapped off or knocked down during that event (click on it for more detail). The 2004 tornado impacted mature forest, a thinned hardwood forest, the white pines planted along the fire lane, and some other planted pine.

2010 Tornado map - Domain touchdowns (5 of 5)

This map, created by Richard Winslow, indicates where most of the forest damage on the Domain occurred. Click on the map for a more detailed view.

2010 tornado damage from the air (4 of 5)

These two photos were taken by Richard Winslow. The first is near hat Rock Road, and displays part of the swath. The second is south of lake O'Donnell. The large cleared area is used by the fire department as a practice area and by PPS as a wood waste dump. If you click on each photo, you will see the details more clearly.

Tornado damage near Hat Rock Road (part 3)

These two photos are from near Hat Rock Road. In this area, there was a clear swath of damage where hundreds of trees were pushed down. The downed trees included white pine planted along the fire lanes, mature oaks, and planted loblolly pine.

Tornado damage (part 2)

An orange shipping container near compartment 6 was thrown into the adjacent forest, and the tornado crossed Jump Off Road near Afton Lane and pushed down dozens of large oaks before heading towards Midway.

F1 tornado damage on the Domain (part 1 of 5)

These two shots are from Compartment 6, just south of Lake O'Donnell and adjacent to Jump Off Road. Approximately 20 acres were affected in this area. Most of the damaged or fallen trees were large diameter oaks left in the 2006 thin from below research project and in adjacent unthinned forest. This area will be salvaged logged (downed or leaning trees) as soon as we get a drier weather pattern.

Forest Restoration at Sewanee

Students enrolled in Forest and Watershed Restoration recently completed fuel and tree inventories prior to the thinning and burning of the site in compartment 46 (near Armfield Bluff).

Snowden alums visit Natural Resource Issues

Michelle Harvey (Fors., C'76 and Mitch Robinson (N.R. C'07) recently visited the Natural Resource Issues and Policies class (one of Charlie Baird's successful legacies) to discuss Michelle's work with the Environmental Defense Fund and WalMart and Mitch's work with the WildBasin Preserve in Texas.